


Professor Miller

by paupotter_4869



Series: The Most Important Thing. . . [24]
Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Lessons, Pranks, Survival Lessons, Teaching, patrol duties, singing lessons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:07:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28566672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paupotter_4869/pseuds/paupotter_4869
Summary: Ellie is pranked concerning her chores around town and does not take it easy. Also, Joel has a request to ask her.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us)
Series: The Most Important Thing. . . [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033674
Kudos: 15





	Professor Miller

**Author's Note:**

> All credit to Naughty Dogs. I do not own anything. Enjoy ! :)

It was one of the first and most important lessons they were taught at patrol training. Proper weapon maintenance was vital to surviving out there. Cleaning the guns, sharpening the blades. It could, literally, save their lives. 

For that reason, Dina sat down on her porch, all of her weapons lying at her feet—of course, she’d chosen a time where she knew no kids would come by, for they were all in school, minimizing the risks of having an accident. Recklessness, even caused by mere and stupid distractions, could mean she’d be kicked out of the patrols. And although they needed every single volunteer, Maria and Jesse were very strict, too. 

She estimated she had about an hour of work ahead of her and she took off the jacket, rendered useless upon the high sun in the sky. She’d go out on patrol again in a couple of days and needed to be ready. So, she set to work, squinting a bit upon the harsh sunlight. 

It didn’t take long. First, it was the whistling, then the humming—either way, the melody that was stuck in her mind was Ellie’s. Hadn’t she been otherwise occupied, Dina would have invited her over and done a sweep of all their weapons. And they’d be chatting and jabbering, sharing jokes and drinks, and Ellie could maybe sing for her. She was more present in her thoughts lately. 

And, speaking of the devil, that was Ellie she saw coming. The one and only, unmistakable in the crowd. Alas, she also sported that pissed-off expression that seemed to be her neutral face. 

“Hey! Ellie!” Dina shouted, but she didn't hear her. 

As it would seem, Ellie had some other goal entirely. Dina didn’t give up, she put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Besides Ellie herself, four or five people turned around, surprised, albeit they soon realized Dina was only waving at Ellie. 

Her face relaxed a little and she changed her course towards Dina’s place. She took one look at all the weapons scattered at Dina’s feet and checked out a machete she’s just sharpened. Without a word, Ellie grabbed the weapon, checking the sharp edges, its weight. 

“Can I borrow this?” Ellie asked. 

“And good morning to you too,” Dina said in a casual tone. Too distracted by Ellie’s foul mood, it was then when Dina noticed her dirty clothes. “What have you been doing, I pray?”

“I come from the farmhouse.” 

“Wait, for real?” asked Dina, a bit shocked now. Ellie nodded, which didn’t make much sense to Dina, and she began to understand her anger. “We were on patrol just yesterday.” 

“I know,” scowled Ellie. 

“They usually give us a day off, at the very least, after patrols before assigning us to any other tasks—” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“We’re on patrol rotation again this Friday.” 

“I know that one, too,” nodded Ellie, letting out a sarcastic, humorless chuckle. “It just dawned that someone might have been pulling a practical joke on me.” 

“Maybe they just screwed up?” Dina suggested, a bit nervous now. She didn’t like the way Ellie was holding on to the machete. 

“Not likely. And, either way, I can’t take it to the higher-uppers, can I?” 

To Dina's dismay, she knew Ellie was right. Everyone in fucking town had received direct and clear instructions not to disturb Maria or Tommy unnecessarily, which made everyone stand on tiptoes around the young, first-time parents. Something as trivial as Ellie’s case would not be qualified as an emergency. And maybe whoever messed up with Ellie’s schedules was counting on that factor exactly. 

The only thing was, they’d miscalculated badly. If they thought Ellie would let it go so easily, they should think again. They should probably leave town and expect Ellie to follow them to the end of the world, as well. 

“Hey, let’s think about this rationally,” Dina begged, taking the machete off Ellie’s hands. She grabbed her by the arm and took off, trying to get her to forget about all of those weapons and her murder plans. She was certain she could leave the weapons unsupervised for a little while—they weren’t even assembled, to begin with. “You can’t go around murdering people left and right just because.”

“It’s not just because!” 

“Trust me, you don’t want to do that,” Dina said. “You should try using your words first, not violence.” 

“Ugh. You sound like Joel.” 

“He is a very sensible man. He’s saved you countless times before, didn’t you say that? Do his opinion and his advice amount to nothing?” Dina argued, hoping that by bringing Joel up and how much he meant to her Ellie would finally stop and reconsider. 

And it seemed to do the trick, for Ellie came to a halt and froze. It took Dina two seconds to realize it hadn't been her voice of reason the thing that had made Ellie reconsider. It had actually been Joel’s voice—his _singing,_ to be more accurate. But it was all wrong. He sounded so close, and yet they were so far away from his place, where he used to play and sing. 

“That’s weird, he told me he’d be at school today,” Ellie muttered, turning a corner. Dina followed quietly. The mystery had made her forget about her earlier murdering intentions and she wouldn’t be the one to remind her of that. 

They turned towards the school and, fairly enough, they saw Joel, sitting on a bench with his guitar. . . And surrounded by all the children. They were singing a tune together, the children barely knowing the proper lyrics. Dina remembered the rumors that Joel had agreed to give the kids music lessons, although she had no idea those had already started. They had a very long way to go before they could form a choir that didn’t make their ears bleed, though. 

Dina saw Ellie flash a little smile. 

“That’s the song he used to teach me how to play the guitar,” she uttered under her breath. 

Trying not to interrupt the lesson, they walked forward. Joel saw them and nodded from the bench, but he kept singing nonetheless, and the two girls sat down on the ground. They weren’t the only adults witnessing the lesson, although they tried and failed not to flinch or make faces at the children’s terrible singing. 

Some minutes later, Joel brought the children’s singing to an end, and he offered a warm smile for the children’s progress and efforts. 

“What do you say, kiddo?” he asked Ellie. “How’re they doing?” 

“It’s pretty amazing how no one could hit a proper note whatsoever,” Ellie argued. 

At that, Joel grunted and bit his lip before he let out a probably inappropriate snide remark in front of the youngsters. He put down his guitar and announced the lesson was done with for today. At that, many complaints raised. 

“I’ll see you next week,” he said, waving at the kids to go inside the school again. “Just keep practicing.” 

“Bye, Joel!” 

As soon as the kids were out of earshot, Joel let out a scowl at Ellie. 

“Learning how to sing and play takes a lot of practice, as I’m sure you remember first-hand. And what you should be practicing are your goddamn manners. You have a little sister, now, and white lies are—” 

“If she can’t handle the plain, harsh truth from a young and impressionable age, she’ll have a hard time surviving this world,” Ellie interrupted Joel’s speech. She made a fair point, no doubt about it, Joel sighed. Having Ellie as her older sister, Sammy could be unstoppable and unbeatable out there. “Real question is, why didn’t we have school outside when I attended?”

“They probably figured you’d escape,” Dina whispered.

“Fair enough,” accepted Ellie, sitting down on the bench with Joel. 

“I’m glad you stopped by, though. Lizzie wanted me to run something with you.” 

“Oh, no. And here I thought my days of being scared of my teacher were done with.” 

“Relax, kiddo. No reason to be scared. They’re just thinking about extending the curriculum a little bit more—beyond the music lessons.” 

“Hate to break it to you, but those aren't as successful as you think,” Ellie pointed out. 

“What does the curriculum have to do with Ellie, Joel?” Dina asked before the two of them got into another one of their endless quarrels. 

“Here’s the thing. The kids could do with some lessons on how to survive out there. Set up traps, navigating through the woods without getting lost, deal with Infected. . . You know what I’m talking about here.” 

“You mean, all those things I begged for when you forced me to go to school?” 

“Right,” confirmed Joel, winking at her. 

“And they want _me_ to teach?” Ellie scowled, in a yell that could probably be heard all across town. “Is this another prank on me?” 

“What’re you looking at me for? This is the first time I’m hearing about this,” Dina said, shrugging. 

“Have you all lost your minds?” 

“Some of the kids have started asking questions about surviving out there and patrol duties,” Joel tried to explain and soothe her. “There's no reason to keep them in the dark. And we agreed it's best that the person who teaches them has experience in the field.” 

“Why don’t you teach them? You’re doing a fine job.” 

“I’m old, kiddo. We feel they’ll relate to someone closer to their age.” 

“No, you’re not old!” Ellie complained, although Joel didn’t really need white lies from his closest family members to come to terms with his aging. “I mean, you were there when they wrote the Declaration of Independence, and when they built the pyramids, sure, but—” 

“Oh, look at that. School did do a number on you.”

That observation froze Ellie and her ranting and teasing. She would never admit she learned a single thing in school under Elizabeth’s tutelage—not when she used to claim she slept throughout all her classes and spent the rest of the time reading books on the Planets and the Universe. 

“I think it’s a good idea they begin learning about survival and killing Infected,” Dina said after Ellie had remained silent for so long. “They cannot live in a safe, happy bubble all of their lives, at some point, they're going to have to join the patrols, too, if they mean to keep their families safe.”

“Yeah, that's what you thought.”

“You’re teaching them music already, I don't see why you couldn’t take on a few more classes.”

“Come on, kiddo, I’m practically retired from patrol duties. It’s time to let the younger generations take charge.” 

No more arguments follow, because Ellie was too upset to hear those words from Joel. Contrary to the man himself, she refused to accept he was getting on, as he said, and that they’d soon stop having paired patrols together. The passage of time was a cruel thing, indeed. 

“I promise she’ll think about it,” Dina said in Ellie’s stead. 

“Great,” Joel accepted, genuine appreciation in his voice. He stood from the bench and Ellie knelt to grab his guitar from the ground. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare lunch. Want to join me, kiddo?”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it !! 
> 
> The --vast-- majority of chapters from this series are goosey-loosey and I tried to portray soft and funny family scenes, which I so missed in the second game. However, as I mentioned in the series notes, there is some angst nonetheless, and unfortunately, it begins with the next chapter, where Ellie learns everything that happened at St. Mary's Hospital. 
> 
> There's a silver lining at the end of the series, though, and as I also mentioned in the notes, Abby is NOT a character in these works. I've altered the events of the second game for the benefit of this story. . . Hope you like the next few remaining chapters :)


End file.
